The cargo plane, an Airbus A300, was en route from Louisville, Ky., when
it crashed near a field, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was "launching
Go-Team to Alabama UPS plane crash." NTSB Board Member Robert Sumwalt
said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., that no cause of the
crash had been determined, but he said he was optimistic that the
plane's "black boxes" would be recovered.

"The board has a very good success rate at being able to recover the recorders," Sumwalt said.

The pilot and co-pilot were the only people aboard the plane, company
spokesman Jeff Wafford said. The crash happened at about 6 a.m., Bergen
said.

"As we work through this difficult situation, we ask for your patience,
and that you keep those involved in your thoughts and prayers,"
Atlanta-based UPS said in a statement.

Bell told the Birmingham News and it's website, al.com, that no one on
the ground was injured, which is fortunate he said, because there is a
church and some homes about 500 yards from the debris field.

"It's a tragedy anytime you have loss of life,'' the mayor told the
website. "I am grateful for the men and women of the police and fire
departments who quickly got the scene under control."

Bell, who was briefed on the situation by the city's fire chief, said
the plane broke into two or three primary pieces. "There were two to
three small explosions, but we think that was related to the aviation
fuel," he said.

Flight tracking site flightaware.com shows the cargo plane, identified
by the site and the FAA as flight UPS1354, dropped more than 9,000 feet
over the course of two minutes about four minutes before the crash.

The plane, with tail number N155UP, is listed by the FAA as an Airbus
A300 F4-622R which was manufactured in 2004. Maintenance records or
information on any previous incidents involving the plane were not
immediately available.

Birmingham Airport Authority spokeswoman Toni Herrera-Bast said the
plane crashed in "open land" she described as a grassy field on the
outskirts of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. She said
the crash hasn't affected airport operations.